September 27, 2009

BNP leader Nick Griffin has claimed that the English Defence League is being manipulated and directed by Zionists to create a race war on the streets of Britain. Trying to distance the BNP from any potential problem, Griffin and his deputy Simon Darby have set out in a audio message their position on the hooligan-based group.

And surprise, surprise – it’s all the fault of the Zionists. Griffin explains how he initially thought the EDL was a State-sponsored honey trap to embarrass the BNP but now he doesn’t believe that even they would do that. In fact, he argues, there are far more sinister forces at work.

It is Simon Darby who begins to point the light on those behind the EDL. “It’s been set up by a powerful organisation,” he tells his leader. “People with the power to manipulate, who are used to manipulating and have the organisational structure, the facility and the financial clout to promote it.”

“Let’s spell it out shall we,” Griffin responds.

Darby laughs, nervously. “Who’s going to do the spelling?”

Obviously not him that's for sure!

“I’m going to spell it out,” his leader adds pompously. He goes on to pin the blame on those responsible.

“Spelling it out in simple terms – you look at the owners at the Daily Express, the Daily Star and their interests. This is a Neo-Con operation. This is a Zionist false flag operation, designed to create a real clash of civilisations right here on our streets between Islam and the rest of us.”

He rants and raves a bit more, before adding: “I’ve no doubt that this is something designed to spark physical clashes between Muslim communities en bloc and the people who are coming in to hold a demonstration. They are out of it. The people who are going to get it in the neck, who are going to get the blame when it all goes wrong, are ordinary white working class communities. The people behind this are pushing for a low level civil war.”

From railing against the support given to the EDL from the Daily Star, he concludes that the real agenda of these Zionists is a civil war on the streets of Britain and “nuke” Arab countries in the Middle East.

Now while Griffin is right to be alarmed and even outraged at the support the Daily Star is giving to the EDL – something we shall be taking up very shortly – his conclusions contain traditional nazi anti-Semitism. Suddenly the actions of one newspaper owner – if indeed it has reached that level – suddenly becomes an international Zionist conspiracy. The actions of a single British newspaper suddenly becomes the work of a "powerful organisation" who are "used to manipulating" and hell bent on a world war.

The Jewish community in Britain is totally alarmed and appalled at the rise of the EDL and the potential conflict it might cause. They are appalled because they have a proud history of opposing racism and fascism. But even if you look at it from a self-interest perspective there is no sense. Why would British Jews want race war on the streets as that would ultimately only lead to increased support for extremist groups – on all sides – and so increased terrorism for which the Jewish community would be a target.

As for the Daily Star I think it simply running an anti-Muslim campaign with an ‘English Nationalist’ agenda. Its support for the EDL follows the platform it has given over the last couple of years to the English Democrats, of which the Star’s TV critic Gary Bushell is a leading member.

Griffin is scared, though not necessarily for the reasons he gives in the interview. The EDL, backed by the Daily Star, is gaining momentum and the BNP could lose out. The hooligans following the EDL are increasingly voicing their contempt for the BNP, believing the fascist party is more interested in good jobs in Brussels rather than defending the white race back home. There is now talk of the EDL turning itself into a political party and the BNP is getting left behind.

And I have to be sceptical over Griffin’s concern for a civil war on the streets. The Oldham riots were triggered by a gang of white men running down a street attacking Asians and their property. At the next BNP meeting, attended by Griffin, these men were given a standing ovation.

If Griffin was serious about opposing the EDL then he would immediately expel any BNP member associated with it. And he could start with booting out a BNP candidate in a forthcoming council by-election in the West Midlands who attended a recent EDL protest!

So what are the EDLs policy on Europe, the NHS, Crime, our military and the banking sector? What would their potential councillors champagne on? They might do well in Luton, Birmingham, and Manchester. And they might do well in Epping after the kidnapping fiasco. That’s about it.

Well after listening to it - Question Time should be fun... Barnes may be a conspiracy fuelled looney - so are Darby and Griffin except they don't rant in the same way and so appear horribly plausable. But suitable questions on QT and just may be Grififn will expose his real thoughts and views on mainstream television - he might, just might go into rant mode :-)

The EDL have no policies on any of the things you ask, nor any councillors, nor any intentions to stand any. The EDL sees itself as a para-military, quasi-UDA outfit, and is riddled with people who have complete contempt for Nick 'Boss Hogg' Gri££in and, on street level at least, his 'elections only' stance. They are currently debating whether or not to become a political party, but I think that it is 99% sure that they won't.The majority (by no means all) of the EDL are against association with the BNP. Most would probably support some sort of loose alliance with the EDP (they had an official contingent on the recent March For An English Parlaiment, sans masks), but that is about as far as their political aims go - at least, their party political aims.As to whether or not they are a racist group, the EDL says no, in very strong terms. They certainly have black, mixed-race and Jewish members, and claim support from Iranian Christians and moderate Muslims, although these have not yet been seen. A large percentage of their activists on the demos are certainly more in tune with the BNP/NF than most of their leadership. Again, lots of internal talk about their position vis-a-vis the BNP, the majority view being not to give the BNP the time of day. They seem to be reaching a consensus that anybody can attend demos and events, but anybody expressing extreme or racist views will be asked to leave.And as for Gri££in saying they are a 'false flag' operation, well, he's said this about Tyndal supporters, the December rebels, UKIP, EDP, England First, C18, NF, in fact every single group in the UK (and beyond) which may poach even one of his members away, and so leave him out of pocket. If he claims it is a 'false flag' then all that means is that we can be sure that, regardless of who was involved at the start, the EDL is now not under the BNP's control.

It's a shame that Lee Barnes isnt going to be invited into QT. That would have been the final nail in the BNP coffin.I really do love Lee Barnes - he is the best recruiting tool us anti-fascists have. A complete nutter, a foaming ranting anti-semite and fowl mouthed bigot. If he was on QT as a representative of the BNP all those "nice" disgruntled Tory voters who believe the BNP is the answer to their prayers will be deeply disappointed. Instead of mounting protests outside the BBC we should be petitioning the BBC to get Fruit Loop Lee on as the BNP's representative. Griffin is far too slippery and might, just might con a few viewers into believing he is a decent chap from Cambridge University.

''If the EDL Casuals were not neo-Nazis, and were "Zionists", they wouldn't make Hitler salutes on their marches.''

Read the paragraph again. Some are Fascists/ Some are EDP supporters. If you read stormfront it is clear that the 'Nazis' as it were have had enough of this 'zionist' conspiracy. I would hazard a guess that when Griffin said that - which is quite a risk, he must have known searchlight would immediately pick up on it - he was saying it to keep these elements on side, to keep the 'radical' edge.

I think the EDL should be opposed, how could they not be? But it serves no effective purpose to just call them 'Nazis'. They aren't, so shouting it makes people look stupid. Hell, shout 'fascist'or 'dickhead' even. Just don't play into their hands.

Isn't it enough to oppose them on the basis of their stirring up of racial tensions. I certainly will anyway, but if people are waving the ubiquitous banners and shouting Nazi at everyone I might hid at the back.

It is off-putting, short-sighted and dishonest. I'm sorry, but it is....

I think it is somewhat surprising the The Daily Star seems to be tacitly backing the EDL.

Without formally endorsing them, they do seem somewhat sympathetic and that is a genuine surprise to me. Seeing as the EDL are self-confessed football hooligans and their demonstrations have a high risk of degenerating into violence, you have to ask yourselves why this is happening. A major national newspaper group haven't endorsed a far-right group since the early 1930's in Britain and even the National Front in the 1970's met with a hostile media. You would have thought that the Express Group would have backed the BNP before the EDL. The BNP do seem a more serious organisation. I certainly don't subscribe to Griffin's Zionist conspiracy nonsense (which shows him to be the same old anti-Semite he always was) but he is right to ask questions.

"If Griffin was serious about opposing the EDL then he would immediately expel any BNP member associated with it" Has the party not proscribed EDL membership on their website?

It also does seem very strange to me that the EDL has just suddenly appeared from nowhere. Who has really created this organisation? This organisation, if you can call it that has just popped up from nowhere it seems to me!

"It also does seem very strange to me that the EDL has just suddenly appeared from nowhere. Who has really created this organisation? This organisation, if you can call it that has just popped up from nowhere it seems to me!"

The EDL did not just come out of nowhere. It formed in and around Luton in the spring of this year and was staffed initially by Luton Town football hooligans in response to a small Islamist sect's demo against an army homecoming parade.

Like C18 in the early 90's, the EDL began organically, however, like C18, it seems to have been inflitrated and is now being manipulated by larger forces that appear to be something that they are not. We'll have to see how this plays out but the BNP are right to be nervous.